FIGURE 6 TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND EXPANSION OF THE PRODUCTION POSSIBILITIES FRONTIER
imageIn this figure, an economy’s potential output of tablets has expanded greatly, while its maximum production of backpacks has remained unchanged. The area between the two curves represents an improvement in the society’s standard of living, since more of both goods can be produced and consumed than before. Some of the resources once used for tablet production can be diverted to backpack production, even as the number of tablets produced increases.